HOW TO: Hanging Early Flowers

Today, I want to show you how I made my hanging early flowers in the winter garden. If you have a balcony or a porch this is a very nice idea, as well.

In autumnn I was a bit sad (as every year) because flowering season was officially over. But still, I wanted to plant something that I can have as an early joy in the next year. And so I bought some extra flower bulbs in the sale late in the year.

This brings me straight to my first tip: don't plant the flower bulbs for the hanging flower pots too early or they will blossom already the same year. That's because they are planted not that deep as they normally would. If it is a really nice and warm autumn, they will grow and flower until winter arrived. And of course you don't want that.

Ok, let's start! :)

I bought some of the cheapest bowls that had an edge for the hangers at Ikea that I could find. (they are actually bowls of wich you are supposed to eat out of, but in the plant section they didn't have what I wanted and the bowls that I bought were cheaper anyway)
In the next step, I braided three-stranded hangers for the bowls, as you can see in the picture.

Then I braided all of those three hanger braids to one big braid around the bowl and secured it with a knot.

Tadaa! Three-stranded hanger ready! You can adjust the length of the three strands on the top knot so your bowl is hanging straight.
(btw I used ordinary jute rope that I had left from the gardening season)

The next step is planting the bowls. In order to provide appropriate drainage I put a layer of clay granules in the bottom of the bowl. On top of that I put some soil and then placed the flower bulbs. I chose to use a hyacinth for the middle and some mixed colour crocuses around it. But you are free to use whatever you want. But I think smaller plants like crocus are a better choice for this kind of project. If you want to have like tulips, you may choose another kind of bowl that has a longer shape in order to be able to plant the bulb deeper.
Cover the bulbs nicely with soil and add some water.


Then cover everything up with some dried leaves or some branches like you normally would, so that the soil is not drying out. That's all. No further care needed ;)

As winter passes by and the sun comes back, your flowers will be growing. You can now remove your coverage, water them and give them some air (this creates a beautiful excitement :) )

And finally, the first crocuses start flowering! Yay!! :)










How great is that!!? I am still waiting fo rmy hyacinths to flower, but may be the bowls are not big enough for them either... we'll see what will happen.

So, I hope you like my hanging early flowers and maybe you will plant some by your own for next year :)